A Visit to A-Town

We decided we're a bit square for Austin - check out this art :)

Sunday morning we woke up late (ah, the good life), called the hotel to move our check in time back, packed up and got on the road.  I will say that the 3 1/2 hour drive to Austin was nice.  We hooked up some nerd devices in my little car and piped in a podcast (talk radio, only the nerdiest for us) and just drove.  After a couple hours I had to speak up to get a bite to eat on the way down because SOMEBODY could just drive all day without nourishment, but all together it was a spectacular day for a drive.

We arrived in A-town about 4:30, checked in with Rose, our concierge and then proceeded on a tour of the property in which the highlight for me was the little butler’s pantry where coffee service would be delivered in the morning (!).  Anyway while I lounged about the boy chatted up Rose and found a cool little locavore spot they thought we would enjoy for the evening.  How that conversation must have gone, “well, she’s really into food...and I like Diet Coke.  What kinda place seems real pretentious and serves Diet Coke in a cool glass bottle?” lol

I was told to wear what I had on, so my traveling jeans (you know the ones that I’ve worn once already and have reached the perfect amount of “stretch”), my t-shirt and I fluffed our hair, put on chapstick, and headed for the door.

Contigo. Was. Perfect.  It was basically in a playground, no really, there was pea gravel and everything.  I love when Texans describe a place as having a “beer garden” and what they really mean an elementary  school style playground with picnic tables outside that serves adult beverages.  Very different from the gardens in Germany, but a cute irony.  Anyway, we entered the completely open air restaurant and were greeted with signage stating that dogs and children were acceptable to bring with you.  We didn’t have either, but we had a great time watching other people with theirs :) 

Love me some people watching!

We had heard that at Contigo they make everything on the menu and they even have a garden area where they grow their own seasonal vegetables to include on the menu which had me super excited.  We started off with something called “face bacon” which happened to be all the parts of a pigs face ground up, seasoned, cured, and then sliced (I was thinking more of a warm, bacony situation, but I was mistaken) it was served like salami with some pears, arugula, and roasted peppers.

Face Bacon

The boy liked the bacon, very silence of the lambs!

The flavor was good.  The texture was not.  I ate one slice, and was seriously disappointed in myself. I thought I could be like what’s-his-name on the Travel Channel, and completely take my mind out of the situation, eat parts of a pig’s face all mashed together, then comment on the delectable “cartilage” that most people just “don’t appreciate.”  Sadly, I’m one of those (for lack of a better phrase) uncultured swine. 




Ok, enough about the face bacon, did I mention the wine? 

 

I selected a prosecco as a nice “welcome to the restaurant” for myself, and it was delicious.  Even though I didn’t particularly enjoy the appetizer, I do believe that the small bubbles and slight minerality in the sparkling Italian wine lifted the salty flavor in the bacon.  Leave it to the vino to save the first course!

Looking ahead at the menu I saw what the boy would choose a sausage made fresh daily with a baguette, dijon mustard, and housemade sauerkraut.  His was served with fries and Contigo made ketchup that was served in an adorable old school milk bottle.  I chose a chicken dish that was recommended by our sundress clad server gal that was served with a demi glace, fingerling potatoes.  when the sausage arrived, I knew I’d been out ordered, the sausage of the day was dried sour cherry and ancho chile!!  I would have loved it, luckily the boy let me sneak a bite (amazing).  He’s been talking about that sausage so much since then, that I’m actually thinking about re-creating it! 

Water in an old wine bottle, and housemade ketchup!

The sausage that stole the show

My chicken

There is something to be said for a simple chicken dish where every component is fresh and thoughtfully prepared.  I won’t get on a soap box about all the processed foods we eat clouding our palates with fakey fake fake imitations of real flavors right now, but you do notice these things when you eat a fresh chicken breast with demi made from real bones, and stock, paired with a salad of freshly picked greens and a warm garlicy vinaigrette.  I can’t say enough about the things Contigo does right.  I paired my chicken with an unoaked chardonnay, that I actually enjoyed (I know, you don’t believe me).  Chardonnay is obviously not my thing, but this one was unoaked, meaning there would be no woody, heavy oak flavor, so when I ordered I took that into consideration.  Malolactic fermentation had taken place in this one, so the wine had a creamy, lightly buttered mouthfeel that was balanced by a lemony acidity.  The wine played beautifully on the chicken with the rich sauce, and the vinaigrette.  It was a fun game where every time I tasted my food/wine combinations I noticed different layers of flavor.

Dessert. We chose a Marshmallow for dessert and were pleasantly surprised! 

Trying to figure out how they did this.  That marshmallow cream was stupid good!

Chocolate cookies filled with a dense marshmallow cream that was toasted, and alongside the sandwich was a raspberry thyme coulis.  I don’t even have the words for this. We fork fought over the last bite. 

Thyme Raspberry Coulis = A win!

No Joke. 

We sat under the stings of white lights listening to the conversations around us (hearing servers offer wine pairings, children running through that gravel), and we chatted about how “easy” it would be to make a place like this, what things we would do to create this ambiance, and how everyone we know would love this. What a delightful evening.